Women's Reservation And Delimitation Bill: Know The BIG Numbers Game

New Delhi: Three bills are introduced simultaneously in the Parliament on Thursday. The government aims to implement the 33 per cent women's quota in legislature, delimitation and the one to increase the seats for Union Territories, before 2029 Lok Sabha elections. A special three-day session has began on Thursday. 

What is the special session?

A special three-day session of the Parliament has started from Thursday to give concrete shape to the three bills. The three bills that are tabled are Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, Delimitation Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026.

Is NDA short of 67 seats in LS?

The government faces a tough numerical challenge in Parliament. In the Lok Sabha, the ruling NDA has 293 members, falling short by 67 seats of the two-thirds majority mark of 360 required for constitutional amendments. In the Rajya Sabha, the NDA is around 21 seats short of the 163-mark, making Opposition support or abstention crucial for passage.

What about Women's reservation?

The Women's Reservation Act or the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam aims at providing 33 per cent reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Though it was passed in 2023, its implementation is linked to delimitation.

What is the delimitation commission?

The government has introduced the Delimitation Bill, 2026, during a special sitting of Parliament during the current Budget Session. Under this bill, the central government will be able to constitute a Delimitation Commission to determine the allocation of seats in the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies based on the latest census data and taking into account the provisions of the Constitution.

A copy of this Bill has been circulated among the Members of Parliament along with the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-first Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment Bill), 2026 for the purpose of implementing the Nari Shakti Vandan Act related to women reservation.

Many provisions of the new bill are similar to those of the 2002 law. This bill will repeal the 2002 Delimitation Act.

According to the draft Delimitation Bill, 2026, 'The Central Government may, by notification, constitute a Commission to be called the Delimitation Commission. The Commission shall consist of the following members: 'one member who is or has been a Judge of the Supreme Court, to be appointed by the Central Government as the Chairperson of the Commission, the Chief Election Commissioner (himself) or an Election Commissioner nominated by the Chief Election Commissioner, shall be an ex-officio member and the State Election Commissioners shall be ex-officio members.'

Constitutional Amendment Bill seeks to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha to 850, which means 815 seats for persons directly elected from the states and 35 seats for persons representing the Union Territories, in a manner Parliament may decide by law.